We will take land before parliament approves it, says new minister

The newly appointed Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Maite Nkoane-Mashabane, sys she will expropriate land even before the parliamentary process has been completed. Nkoane-Mashabane said at the recent Land Summit that she had already identified a piece of property for such purposes.

In response trade union Solidarity has said her attitude is more proof that the ANC’s talk that land owners need not be worried about the widely discussed expropriation with compensation is nothing more than a dangerous trap for land owners.

Connie Mulder, head of the Solidarity Research Institute, says it is disconcerting that Nkoane-Mashabane said she did not want to disclose the property she had apparently identified “for fear that it would give the current owners an opportunity to get legal representation” and prepare for litigation, which would make her task more difficult. “This statement nullify her argument that she wanted to use this case as a test case because it is clear that she does not really heed legal procedure.”

Mulder says it seems that the ANC “does not only intend to strip owners of their property rights; it is also prepared to trample other constitutional rights in order to achieve that goal”. He feels it is clear “that a contradiction exists between what Pres. Ramaphosa says and the statements made by his ministers regarding this issue. Therefore, the ANC only acts within the framework of the law provided that this does not hamper their ultimate goal…

“The only difference between the views of the ANC and the EFF on land expropriation is the size of the mob who wants to take the land,” says Mulder.